Watch as the two brightest planets — Venus and Jupiter — edge closer together and culminate on June 30th with a dramatically close pairing.

Moon-Venus-Jupiter_June20
A crescent Moon joins the dramatic pairing of Venus and Jupiter on June 20th.
Sky & Telescope diagram

This month features a beautiful pairing of planets in the evening sky. Night by night, Venus and Jupiter inch closer together. Late in the month the pairing gets even more dramatic. They’ll look like a brilliant double star in the sky. The performance culminates on June 30th, when Venus and Jupiter are separated by only 0.3°.

Meanwhile, a third bright planet, Saturn, is taking the stage over in the east. Saturn was at opposition, opposite the Sun in the sky, on May 22nd. So throughout June, instead of rising when the Sun sets, it’ll be a little higher above the southeastern horizon at nightfall.

There's lots more to see by eye in the June evening sky. To get a personally guided tour — and to learn the meaning of the star names Zubeneschamali and Zubenelgenubi — download our 7-minute-long stargazing podcast below.

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There's no better guide to what's going on in nighttime sky than the June issue of Sky & Telescope magazine.

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